Lean Agriculture

Posted by Ketan ChandariaDecember 11th, 2017

Lean Agriculture and Farming

Vative’s ability to foster organisational change can be achieved through any combination of business analysis, project consulting or Lean management training. Australia’s leading experts will find a customised solution to unlocking the pressure caused by systems inefficiencies within your industry.

Why are Growers and Farmers Motivated to apply Lean Agriculture to their Operations?

It seems that around every corner, another obstacle exists for the agricultural industry. Whether it be drought, floods, insect plagues or the high dollar, Australian farmers have proven their toughness and adaptability. Australian farmers are often leading the world in agricultural science implementation and hence our food production is some of the most recognised in the world. However, as the world catches up, Australia must continue to innovate to stay out in front. Lean agriculture offers efficiency gains no matter what level of technology implementation you have, and often require little or no investment.

How Does Lean Agriculture Work?

Lean Agriculture looks at every part of your business, every decision, every piece of work that is done every day, and asks – how can we do it better?

Lean Agriculture focuses on the ‘flow’ of materials and information through your business’ systems. You can see restrictions to flow every time something stops or slows:

paperwork is held up due to wrong or mis-information;

workers waiting due to machinery breakdowns;

a packing line runs too slow and requires extra labour;

a larger proportion of crops are rejected due to inconsistent harvesting techniques.

Vative’s Lean Agriculture experts carry out a comprehensive on farm business analysis to understand where the most costly restrictions are, then prioritise project work to release these restrictions. Do you need to expand the footprint of your packing factory to increase production, or can you use your space more efficiently by achieving better flow? Do your planting, growing, and harvesting process need to be standardised so that you know what is available and what needs to be planted at any time? Vative can identify, coordinate and implement the projects as required, or we can provide Lean management training to allow your business to continually and independently find and eliminate restrictions to reduce cost.

Are you planning to hand over or sell your business to new management or the next generation? Vative can provide you with the skills to map the processes in your organisation, and capture the systems that you use, in order for you to standardise and formalise them. This allows you to solidify the work you have done in setting the business up, and reinforce the best way of doing things. How would you like to be able to step away from your business and allow it to run itself?

Lean Agriculture, (which incorporates Lean Six Sigma principles) has been notably successful in food processing and food supply chain logistics and has thus become a necessity as a framework for best practice and longevity. With food supply chains and processors continuing to put pressure on producers it is now more important than ever to learn and begin to implement these methodologies.

Discover How a leading Lettuce Grower from Australia Achieved Massive Cultural Change and Cost Reductions

Vative’s lean Agriculture program with this leading Lettuce grower has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to their lettuce planting, harvesting and packing operations. Find out more by contacting us.
To speak to a Vative Lean Agriculture Specialist, Contact Us on 1300 VATIVE (82 84 83).